INTERVIEW: Kimi Antonelli on his fast start to 2026 and learnings from his rookie year

For four years, Mercedes struggled with the ground-effect era of cars. For George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and Antonelli, following his ascension last year, victories and podiums were hard to come by.

In particular, Antonelli struggled through the European segment of the campaign, unusually so given he knew all the circuits from his rise through the junior formulae. It sparked questions about whether his promotion was too much, too soon.

The Italian teenager mercifully regained a measure of form later in the year, notably finishing second in the São Paulo Grand Prix, and third a fortnight later in Las Vegas, adding to his maiden podium midway through the season in Canada.

Even so, with all the pre-season noise focusing on the potential of Mercedes' W17, and with Russell the likely man to beat due to his greater experience, Antonelli was mentioned in dispatches, but likely playing second fiddle to the British driver, as was the case with Valtteri Bottas to Hamilton during their time together as team-mates.

When Russell spearheaded a Mercedes one-two in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the expectation was that it would set the tone for what would follow. Not a bit of it.

A week later, Antonelli became the youngest polesitter in F1 history when he beat Russell to the top spot on the grid by two-tenths of a second. In fairness to Russell, his lap at the death was exceptional after technical gremlins denied him his first run in Q3. At one stage, it appeared he would not return to the track at all.

The race, though, was a different story as Antonelli was barely threatened en route to becoming the second-youngest Grand Prix winner — behind only Max Verstappen — and the first Italian to win a Grand Prix since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix.

The tears that flowed immediately afterwards, when initially interviewed by David Coulthard, were genuine; there was no mistaking just how much the win meant to him.

Although Russell had to settle for second, the expectation was that he would have the upper hand at the Japanese Grand Prix, and the revered, high-speed nature of Suzuka. Antonelli had other ideas.

There was no doubt about the pole position on this occasion, by three-tenths of a second from Russell. Yes, the start was abysmal, as he readily acknowledged but the fight back was first class as he again took the chequered flag, becoming the first Italian to win back-to-back races since Alberto Ascari in 1953, and more significantly, the youngest leader of the Drivers' Championship at 19 years and 216 days.

Unsurprisingly then, even though 19 races remain Antonelli is being talked about as a genuine title contender, and with good reason given Mercedes clearly is the car to beat and in two of the first three Grands Prix this year, he has had the measure of Russell.

"I’m not thinking too much about the Championship," insisted Antonelli. "Of course, it’s great, but it’s still a long way to go, and I need to keep raising the bar.

"George is very quick and, for sure, he’s going to be back at his usual level, and also, [the other] competitors will eventually get closer. We need to keep our heads down and keep raising the bar."

It is naturally early days, but unless those competitors raise their own bar, there is every chance the title fight could boil down to another brutal Mercedes intra-team battle, as was the case between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg between 2014-16.

It would be fair to assume Antonelli's youth would count against him should the pressure and tension ramp up, but he’s adamant that, for now, he’s not going to worry about such a situation.

"I’m just going to focus on myself, on what I need to do, trying to get everything right in terms of procedure, starts, driving," he said.

"I know how strong George is and, for sure, it’s going to be very hard. Plus, I think Ferrari and McLaren will get closer, so it’s going to be important to stay on top of my game, as I said before, keep raising the bar."

He does at least feel that, in comparison to his rookie campaign, he has taken a "big step" forward this year, naturally aided by the car. In general, though, he knows he is also a different driver.

"Last year, I went through a lot," he said. "It taught me massively more than I anticipated, and for sure, it’s helping so far this year. Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do, but I definitely feel much more in control of the situation.

"The car helps, but I’m going to try to be ready because it’s one of those opportunities that doesn’t happen every day. Obviously, I'm really grateful for the car that the team has provided us so far."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is acutely aware that in the current energy management era, and the rate of improvement to be expected from other teams, the front-running baton could swiftly change hands.

"We need to stay with our feet on the ground," Wolff stated. "We're three races in. We're looking like the heroes, but three races from now, people could be saying, 'Well, not heroes anymore, because the others got stronger'.

"I wouldn't want, at this stage, to compare the [past] successful era with what we've started here. Definitely, we never stopped believing that we would eventually land on a car and build the structures that can do that, with the right drivers. To see it finally coming together is nice."

It is why he doesn’t want to wade in yet on whether Antonelli has what it takes to build on his early momentum and mount a title challenge. For now, he is just pleased to see the about-turn in form compared to last season.

"When we decided to give him the seat one and a half years ago, we hoped for this trajectory, that with the ups and downs you expect from a young driver, aged 18 in his first year, that eventually success would materialise in the second," said Wolff. "This is happening now.

"Could we have predicted two wins out of three races at the beginning for Kimi? No," before adding that a combination of speed and luck has contributed to his back-to-back triumphs.

As for Antonelli, the fact that this year has ushered in a new era of technical regulations rather than it being an extension of a tired rules set has undoubtedly played its part in his fine start. He openly recognises that.

He also feels, though, that he has closed the gap on Russell between years one and two, and that will provide him with the bedrock for a possible Championship tilt. "It helps that everyone started from zero," said Antonelli. "But I've definitely been closing the gap to him.

"In qualifying, he has the upper hand, especially when it comes to Q3. He’s always able to find that little bit extra, which I’m working on, but in terms of race pace, we have a really strong base.

"He’s obviously a super, super strong, very complete driver. He showed that many times last year, and that’s why it’s not going to be easy. That’s why I need to do everything as perfectly as possible."

Images courtesy of Getty Images.